Tripologist: the long and short of seating

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This was published 13 years ago

Tripologist: the long and short of seating

By Michael Gebicki

Where is the best place to sit on a long-haul flight such as on a 747 if you are tall? How far in advance can I request this seat?

- R. Conan-Davies, Canberra.

I have it on good authority that first-class seating is not too shabby. But dreaming aside, you're probably sitting where I usually am, in economy. And there is no simple answer to this question as airlines configure their 747s - and every other passenger aircraft - to suit their own requirements.

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There are, however, a couple of ways you can shoehorn yourself into superior seating for your next flight. Log on to SeatGuru (seatguru.com), key in your airline and flight number and the server comes back with an overview of the aircraft you'll be flying on, with premium real estate colour coded. Seat Expert (seatexpert.com) does much the same thing.

Next, check your airline's website and locate the page with check-in options, which should tell you when you can book your chosen seat. This also varies between airlines and you need to get in smartly.

But here's one of the best-kept secrets of the professional traveller. Regardless of which airline or aircraft you're flying with, when you're travelling in economy, you want to be placed in an exit row, where the seats have valuable extra centimetres of leg room.

Several airlines allow you to pre-book exit-row seats for a modest surcharge - and it's well worth it. I'm about to fly from Sydney to Adelaide and Virgin Blue is charging me $35 for an exit-row seat, which gives an extra 20 centimetres of stretch-out space. On an international flight, say from Sydney to London, an exit-row seat with Qantas will cost $160 extra one way - and that's a rolled-gold bargain.

If you have travel questions, we'd love to hear from you. Write to travelshd@fairfaxmedia.com.au. Personal correspondence cannot be entered into. Only questions appearing in print will be answered. One published letter each week will win a Lonely Planet guidebook.

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